Loanerbots
To fill spaces in various robot competitions, loanerbots were sometimes included in the lineup. A vast majority of these robots were built by the Robot Wars technical crew. In most cases, this was because the team had experienced a shipping mishap or technical malfunction with their original robot and needed a replacement. The Robot Wars staff originally named these robots as House Loanerbots. Loanerbots were mainly used in Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors and Nickelodeon Robot Wars, but were also seen in other series. A specific subset of loanerbot is the stock robot. These robots, unlike loanerbots, were either built exclusively to battle each other, or were entered to make up numbers and were actively encouraged to lose. They were often driven by established roboteers, guest competitors such as celebrities and international representatives, or members of the production team themselves. The three most well-known stock robots were all featured in Robot Wars: The First Wars because only thirty-three robots entered the thirty-six robot bracket. Role in Robot Wars In the US and Nickelodeon series, loanerbots were only used to make up the numbers in side events and were usually not allowed to compete in the main US Championship. However, Tiger Cat was brought in as a reserve for Conquering Clown in the Season 1 US Championship, after the latter withdrew due to technical problems, while similarly, Coffin-Bot would be loaned to Team Terminator to replace Skullmania, who also faced technical difficulties. In Dutch Series 2, they were used in the main competition due to a lack of competitors or, in the case of Hard, to replace an identically-named competitor which the team withdrew before the series began. The loanerbots were, for the most part, below the standards of regular competitor robots, and rarely enjoyed success when fighting against them. Due to their ineffective weapons, fragile armour and basic drive systems, they often became targets for the House Robots to deal extra damage where possible, and generally did not hold much sentimental value among roboteers. The sole exception was the undefeated Tut Tut, which was reworked by Team Raptor's Chris Harriman to feature a more powerful pneumatics system for its axe, and won various events across Extreme Warriors and the Nickelodeon series with these revisions. The three Series 1 Stock Robots (Grunt, WYSIWYG and Eubank the Mouse) were required to compete in the first series to add to the 33 genuine competitors. They were prohibited from reaching the Arena stage during their heats, resulting in them being eliminated in their Trials after clearing The Gauntlet without much difficulty. The three Stock Robots from the first UK series were robots from international robotic combat competitions that took place before the televised show began. The modern stock robots were built by Robo Challenge, and used similar components across all eight models, including the same wheels (with one exception) and motors. Robo Challenge's stock robots were initially intended to fight only each other in a side event, and did not necessarily comply with the Robot Wars weight limit, with The Cat in particular weighing in excess of 140kg. Three of Robo Challenge's stock robots were later required to represent international countries in Robot Wars: World Series, and were rebranded as new entries, compliant with the weight limit. List of Loanerbots Loanerbots were often given specific identities depending on the wishes of the team in possession. They could also have their colours and even weapons changed. To avoid the arbitrary distinction between two interchangeable names, loanerbots are listed by their generic description and then by the name(s) given to them. Stock robots are listed in bold. Robots listed in italics were neither a loanerbot nor a stock robot. As there were many loanerbots built, some of them may not be known, as many were not chosen to replace another robot. One example was a robot which resembled a rusty version of The Green House, minus the plexiglass, and with the addition of a scoop similar to Dynamite. Other examples * Stanoscloir was a robot entered by Team Nemesis in Robot Wars' sister show, Techno Games. Stanoscloir was, itself, a loanerbot, with an extremely similar shape and design to Rigby. Stanoscloir however was lacking a weapon, and instead used a wooden pole used for battering. *'Kan-Opener' was also lent to the original team during Series 8, as it was actually owned by Jason Marston of Thor. However, this loan was handled away from the production of the show, and was a private exchange between the two teams. Trivia *Team Nemesis have both loaned a robot to another team, and later competed with a loanerbot themselves. References Category:Terminology Category:Loanerbots